Therapeutic Recreation Internship

An internship in therapeutic recreation offers a unique opportunity for students and emerging professionals to gain hands-on experience in facilitating leisure activities that promote emotional, physical, and social well-being. Interns will work alongside experienced practitioners to develop and implement tailored recreational programs designed to meet the diverse needs of individuals within our private practice.

At RGV-MTWC, we specialize in therapy for Mexican American communities and incorporate culture centered therapy practices into our supervision and treatment processes.

Our goal is to prepare interns for entrance into the professional world and we guide students in further developing important clinical and professional skills including time management, clinical documentation, scheduling, session planning, and ongoing clinical assessments.

Therapeutic recreation interns will observe, co-lead, and then led therapeutic recreation experiences under the supervision of a board certified therapeutic recreation specialist (CTRS) and therapists on our treatment team.

Internship Eligibility: We currently offer recreational therapy internship positions for students seeking experience in private practice. At this time, we only offer university affiliated internships, and we have an established affiliation with Texas State University.

Internship Availability: Although we do offer internships for therapeutic recreation, our availability is very limited. Applications do not guarantee an internship position with our program. Start/end dates and availability for clinical training periods are determined by the availability of recreational therapy supervisors and therapy staff.

The Internship Experience

  • Applicants that are accepted into the internship program will be required to adhere to routine background checks prior to or at the start of internship.

  • At this time, we are unable to offer a stipend for therapeutic recreation interns.

  • Interns are expected to average 40 hours per work week. Interns may attend community events with our staff to receive additional hours as needed.

  • As a private practice, we work in a variety of clinical settings including:

    • Neurodivergent adults in community-based settings - individual sessions

    • Youth and adolescence in mental health settings - individual and group sessions

    • Telehealth (diverse clientele) - individual sessions

    • Veterans - group and individual sessions

    • Community wellness

  • Interns will complete midterm and final evaluations throughout the course of internship consisting of written evaluations to assess student progress and identify areas for growth.

  • We categorize our setting as private practice and interns within our program will experience the full range of settings offered within our private practice including individual sessions with neurodivergent adults, individual sessions for youth and adolescence in mental health settings, individual and group sessions with veterans, and other community wellness programs.

    Internship placements vary depending on the needs of our community and current/available settings during the time of internship. Interns will work with their primary supervisor to determine what settings meet the student’s current learning objectives and build clinical experiences to expand their therapeutic skills.

    We provide both in-facility and community-based therapeutic recreation throughout the Rio Grande Valley. This means that interns will have time in their schedules at our center as well as home health sessions .

  • This placement is structured to provide therapeutic recreation students with opportunities to grow and develop their clinical skills.

    As supervisors, we strive to create a well-round environment to prepare interns for the professional setting through a sequence of observation, co-therapy, and then leading recreational therapy sessions independently.

    From a person-centered perspective, we encourage students to bring their authentic, whole selves to supervision, and we value honesty, positive work ethic, empathy, and self reflection when working with students. We feel that it is important to have open and constructive dialogues in order to facilitate a positive learning environment.

    We seek to meet the learning needs of each student by meeting them where they are in their clinical journey and providing them with resources to develop their own clinical style and find their unique place within the profession.

  • Interns will complete one project throughout the course of their internship. Topics for projects will focus on the student’s objectives and seek to expand clinical growth in those areas.

Application Requirements:

  • Completed application (form below)

  • Two letters of recommendation (submitted directly to marisa@rgvmusictherapy.com)

  • Resume

  • Interview